ABSTRACT
The political revival of the Gaelic communities in the later Middle Ages had a number of stages. Those Gaelic rulers who retained some territory after the Anglo-Norman invasion relied at first on the protection of the English king to keep the aggression of the Anglo-Irish barons within bounds. This policy failed during the long minority of King Henry III, when several of his council of regency, such as Earl William the Marshal and the chancellor Hubert de Burgh, were closely connected to the barons in Ireland. Their encouragement led to a renewed westward expansion, the conquest of Connacht by Richard de Burgh, and attempts by the FitzGerald lord of Sligo to conquer Donegal, and by the Fitzgeralds of Desmond, or south Munster, to expand into the southwest at the expense of the MacCarthaig lords.
